OBJECTIVE: To check the respiratory muscle strength in cardiac surgery and the relationship with the postoperative pulmonary complications. METHODS: Sixty-tree adult's patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery were enrolled in this study. In the day of the surgery all patients did the respiratory muscle strength test. In the postoperative a multidisciplinary team took care all patients and they receive physiotherapy treatment twice a day following the usual care of the hospital. In the fifth day after surgery, the patients repeat the respiratory muscle strength test and were examined postoperative pulmonary complications. RESULTS: A significant lower inspiratory muscle strength (P=0.001) and expiratory muscle strength (P=0.0001) was found in the postoperative, however it wasn't statistics significantly the relationship between the inspiratory muscle strength (P=0.58) and expiratory muscle strength (P=0.4) preoperative with postoperative pulmonary complication. CONCLUSIONS: The respiratory strength preoperative couldn't be a predictor of postoperative pulmonary complication.
Cardiac surgical procedures; Postoperative Complications; Muscle strength
